Floridians hit the road, make parish pilgrimage for religious freedom

TOM TRACY│Catholic News Service

6/30/15

Deacon John Kirk of San Pablo Parish in Marathon, Fla., leads a prayer at San Pedro Catholic Church near Islamorada during a Fortnight for Freedom pilgrimage June 27 to the five Catholic parishes of the Florida Keys. The pilgrimage and other parish celebrations around the Miami Archdiocese marked the U.S. bishops' fourth annual Fortnight for Freedom urging Catholics to take action to protect religious freedom.

KEY WEST, Fla. - Like on any true pilgrimage, a group of
Floridians met strangers along the way and were greeted by
local people as well as travelers doing things both secular
and recreation on a sunny summer Saturday in the Florida
Keys.

They sang hymns, prayed part of the Divine Mercy, read a
pilgrim prayer and recited the rosary. They prayed the
Stations of the Cross, heard reflections from the nation's
Founding Fathers, stopped to admire sacred artwork,
stained-glass windows and historic grottos, and walk through
an elaborate prayer garden.

For the fourth year in a row and as part of the nationwide
U.S. bishops' Fortnight for Freedom effort, a small group of
South Florida Catholics embarked June 27 on a daylong
pilgrimage to the five Catholic parishes in the Florida Keys.

The fortnight event is a call to U.S. Catholics to defend
their freedom of religion and monitor ongoing threats against
religious liberties that impact church entities nationwide.

Adding urgency to the Floridians' fortnight conversations
this year was the fact that just one day earlier, on June 26,
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution
guarantees a nationwide right to same-sex marriages,
prompting further concern that the federal government may
interfere with long held religious beliefs and marriage
traditions among faith communities such as the Catholic
Church.

In several places, the majority decision recognized the role
of religious beliefs with regard to same-sex marriage, saying
that "it must be emphasized that religions, and those who
adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with
utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex
marriage should not be condoned."

But Catholic and other religious leaders said that
distinction is too narrow and seemed aimed more at protecting
the free speech of faiths that support traditional marriage
and oppose same-sex marriage, rather free exercise of
religion.

Deacon John Kirk of San Pablo Parish in Marathon, who led the
Keys pilgrimage, began the day at St. Justin Martyr Parish in
Key Largo by reading Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski's
statement on the court's ruling.

The statement notes that losing the understanding of marriage
as a conjugal union of a man and a woman in a permanent and
exclusive commitment conducive to welcoming and raising the
children born from such a union weakens the family as the
basic cell of society and imperils the human flourishing of
future generations.

"Allowing 'an act of the will' to be substituted for 'legal
judgment' is a recipe for tyranny," the archbishop's
statement said.

Deacon Kirk reminded the pilgrims not to lose heart and to
remember that "God is in charge," so that no one should to be
ashamed if they can do nothing more than pray for the nation
and religious liberties in the days leading up to
Independence Day, the final day of the bishops' Fortnight for
Freedom. The observance, which began June 21, has as its
theme this year "Freedom to Bear Witness."

Besides same-sex marriage, other threats to religious freedom
seen in the U.S. include the federal contraceptive mandate
forcing most employers, including religious entities, to
provide coverage of contraceptives and abortifacients even if
employers morally oppose such coverage. Many of the affected
employers also object on moral grounds to the government's
provision to opt-out of the coverage.

"In the many centuries since Jesus we have seen great things
happen where great leaders and great men show us the way,"
Deacon Kirk said, noting the examples of St. Thomas More and
St. John Fisher from 16th-century England. Both were executed
by King Henry VIII for their Catholic beliefs.

Also referencing the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Deacon
Kirk said, "We can't be halfhearted Christians, we have to be
'all-in.' There is truth or untruth, so our job as Christians
and Catholics is to follow the dictates of our conscience and
to make sure our conscience is formed correctly."

"If you can do nothing else pray for our nation, pray for our
leaders, they need our prayers," the deacon said.

The Keys pilgrimage was coordinated by the deacon's wife,
Mary "Sis" Kirk, as well as Sue Palguta, a graduate of the
Miami archdiocesan school of lay pastoral ministry and an
extraordinary minister of holy Communion at San Pablo Parish.

Mary McFadden, a New York native and Keys resident since
2006, said she didn't necessarily want to give up her
Saturday to journey through the Florida Keys from north to
south but that she felt obligated by conscience to
participate.

"You have to do something and there was the opportunity and
to shun it would be wrong," McFadden said. "You can't sit and
make comment about what's going on in the world if you don't
do a little bit of something."

New Jersey native Martin Pfeifer, who owns a marine business
in Marathon, said likewise he would normally be out
snorkeling or fishing on a Saturday but that he was inspired
to make this year's Keys pilgrimage even before the court
decision.

"I thought the (Supreme Court) decision would be at the end
of June so now it feels like a full throttle (urgency),"
Pfeifer, who is a member of San Pablo Parish. "It is a
sacrifice for me today because there are no winds, so
normally I would be out scuba diving but this is more
important. It is only through prayer and fasting that we can
move mountains, so to speak."

At San Pedro Parish near Islamorada, the pilgrims were
greeted by a local Catholic woman presented the travelers
with small bottles of holy water that were decorated by local
Catholic children. They also ran into a group of tourists
making a scavenger hunt.

In Big Pine Key, Father Randal Musselman, pastor of St. Peter
Parish, came out to greet the fortnight pilgrims, as did
Father John Baker in Key West's Basilica of St. Mary Star of
the Sea, which was preparing for a Saturday afternoon
wedding.